Clark Staub had a completely different life before establishing Full of Life Flatbread in Los Alamos nearly two decades ago. He worked from being a humble record store clerk to becoming the Vice President of Marketing at Capitol Records — plus there was a stint in Vermont working for Burton Snowboards. But he was always really into bread, which led him to start his own place in the little-known town on California’s Central Coast. Since then, Los Alamos has become a top-flight culinary destination, with a population of just 1,600 and 12 restaurants, if you count the Subway inside the gas station. Clark talks about snowboarding, cookbooks, and Radiohead, as well as letting go of good ideas. Note: the book Clark named his restaurant after is called Full of Life by John Fante. Instagram: @fulloflifefoods Website: fulloflifefoods.com

CONSUMED with Jaime Lewis

Clark Staub, chef and restaurateur, Full of Life Flatbread, Los Alamos

Few restaurants hold the hearts of Central Coast locals like Mee Heng Low, the chop suey restaurant on Palm Street, owned and operated by the Gin Family for over 40 years and still in operation under Chef Paul Kwong. As a young boy growing up in his parents’ restaurant, Mike Gin saw it all up close, and in adulthood he chose to write a family cookbook of original MHL recipes. The first edition sold out quickly, so he teamed up with his nephew, Andrew Gin, to produce a new edition with Andrew’s photography and a fresh look. Mike and Andrew stopped by to talk SLO history, Chinatown, and the Gin family’s famous Black Bean Spare Ribs recipe. Instagram: @mhlcookbook Website: mhlcookbook.com

Mike Gin and Andrew Gin, authors, "The Mee Heng Low Gin Family Cookbook," San Luis Obispo

The Monroe family owns and operates Hush Harbor Bakery in Atascadero, California, including father Donnie, mother Penni, and daughter Morgan. Penni and Donnie worked in aerospace engineering in Southern California before taking an early “retirement” to start a bakery on the Central Coast. In time, their daughter Morgan would start working at the bakery, too. Penni and Morgan discuss their love of music (Morgan is a phenomenal singer for the The Monroe), the origins of the Hush Harbor name, and beautiful, beautiful sourdough bread. Note that the book Penni references in our conversation is called The Shaping of Black America by Lerone Bennett. Website: hushharborartisanbakery.com

Penni Monroe and Morgan Monroe, owners, Hush Harbor Bakery, Atascadero

Chef Travis Watson has worked all over the world, most recently as executive chef at the Hotel Californian in Santa Barbara’s Funk Zone, built in the 1920s and recently — spectacularly! — renovated. We talked about how he honed his effortlessly artful style, his dedication to sustainability, savory marshmallows, and the haunted Stanley Hotel in Colorado. Instagram: @hotelcalifornian Website: hotelcalifornian.com

Travis Watson, chef, Hotel Californian, Santa Barbara

Susan Feniger is known from over 300 episodes of the Food Network’s Too Hot Tamales along with her business and creative partner Mary Sue Miliken, and their restaurants Border Grill and Socalo in Los Angeles and Border Grill in Las Vegas. She is the co-author of six cookbooks and was recently honored by the Julia Child Foundation, and is in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Museum. Her spouse, Liz Lachman, is an Emmy- and Golden Reel award-winning independent filmmaker whose latest short film, PIN-UP, is a psychological drama that has won 30 festival awards. Susan and Liz talk about their 25 years together, Midwestern accents, arepas, music, and the ways that success has or hasn’t changed them. Instagram: @susanfeniger Instagram: @lizlachman

Susan Feniger and Liz Lachman, celebrity chef and filmmaker, Los Angeles

Humboldt Distillery owners Abe and Courtney Stevens weren’t always into distilling. Abe started as a biochemist and Courtney studied English, but their paths brought them to Humboldt , where Abe’s family has lived for five generations. Humboldt Distillery is best known for its organic vodka, which is the best-selling organic vodka in California. We talked about clean water, poker tournaments, and hemp-infused vodka, which can be a delicious substitute for gin. To prove it, Abe and Courtney have provided the recipe for a Hemp Highball using their “Humboldt’s Finest” vodka. Hemp Highball Cocktail 1.5 oz Humboldt's Finest Hemp-Infused Vodka 1 oz jasmine simple syrup 0.5 oz fresh lemon juice Soda water 2 cucumber slices Highball Glass To make jasmine syrup: Brew a strong jasmine green tea and dissolve 1 part sugar in 1 part hot tea. Allow to cool. Add vodka, syrup, lemon juice, and 1 cucumber slice to a cocktail shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a highball glass over fresh ice. Top with soda water. Garnish with remaining cucumber slice and serve.   Instagram: @humboldtdistillery Website: humboldtdistillery.com

Abe and Courtney Stevens, distillers and owners, Humboldt Distillery, Fortuna

I travel to Gold Country to meet Zachary Ahrenholtz, the executive chef at the Holbrooke Hotel and Golden Gate Saloon. These are the oldest continuously operating hotel and oldest watering hole in California, respectively, and they were recently renovated and polished to a shine. Zach talked with me about smoking meats and how they influence the new Golden Gate Saloon menu, as well as the phenomenon of the Midwest’s pork tenderloin sandwich. Instagram: @holbrookehotel Website: holbrooke.com

Zachary Ahrenholtz, chef, Golden Gate Saloon & Holbrooke Hotel, Grass Valley

Ashley Chaney is a successful voiceover artist and red carpet host who recently launched a project that’s close to her heart: a food podcast. “Dear Food” inquires into the lives of those who love to cook, eat, and talk about food. Ashley shared the origins of her interest in the project, how she years for the tri-tip sandwich at Firestone Grill in San Luis Obispo (where she studied journalism in college), and the foibles of working with celebrities. Instagram: @dearfoodpodcast Website: ashleychaney.com/dearfood

Ashley Chaney, food podcaster, "Dear Food," Los Angeles

Nicky is a fourth-generation miller and bread baker with Central Milling in Petaluma, and a descendent of the famed Giusto’s Flour company in South San Francisco. We discussed what it’s like working for a 150-year-old family company, the COVID home sourdough phenomenon, and baking on Team USA for the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie. Instagram: @centralmilling Website: centralmilling.com

Nicky Giusto, baker and miller, Central Milling, Petaluma

Husband-and-wife team Mikey and Gina Giugni produce deeply personal wines for their own wine brands, Scar of the Sea and Lady of the Sunshine, respectively. Mikey also makes a limited amount of cider that is a cult favorite, especially on the Central Coast. They talk biodynamics, family wine, fishing, and teamwork. Instagram: @scar_of_the_sea Instagram: @lady.of.the.sunshine Website: scaroftheseawines.com Website: ladyofthesunshinewines.com

Gina + Mikey Giugni, winemakers, Lady of the Sunshine + Scar of the Sea Wines and Cider, Pismo Beach

Justin Trabue is the assistant winemaker at Lumen Wines in Santa Maria, California. She is a fourth-generation Washingtonian, and she is Black, which definitely puts her in the minority on California’s Central Coast, and even more so in the local wine industry. Justin and fellow Black winemaker Simonne Mitchelson wrote a letter to the wine industry, using it to raise funds for the local grassroots organization, RACE Matters, SLO. Justin was recognized for that achievement by Wine & Spirits Magazine and named one of its “Rising Black Voices in Wine.” Listen in on my conversation with Justin about wine, race, and Lord of the Rings, and don’t miss the other episodes of CONSUMED for which she is a special guest host. Instagram: @jmedici320 Lumen Wines: lumenwines.com

Justin Trabue, winemaker and activist, Lumen Wines, Santa Maria

South Africa native Simonne Mitchelson has lived all over the globe, and got her start in wine when she worked harvest on Waiheke Island in New Zealand for Stonyridge Vineyard. Since then, she’s had her hand in several vintages all over the world, most recently in Lompoc. At the time of this interview, she had just taken a job with Tin City Cider, opening their new tasting room in Los Olivos, California. Simonne is passionate about bringing other Black and Indigenous people of color along in the wine industry; she and guest host Justin Trabue recently wrote a letter asking the wine industry for support of Black lives. Listen to them discuss Simonne’s big family, her experiences as a Black woman in the wine industry, and what she wants to see next for this place she calls home. Also: see below for resources mentioned by Simonne in the episode. Instagram: @simonneandsoforth Photo credit: Heather Daenitz, craftandcluster.com Radical XChange (consultancy serving hospitality & social justice based cultural events & resources).: @radicalxchange The Collectress (Ashtin Berry, Sommelier, bartender and hospitality activist ): @thecollectress Soon Hee Lee (Kendra, advocate for food justice and health equity): @soon.hee.lee

Simonne Mitchelson, winemaker and activist, Los Olivos

Guest host Justin Trabue interviews pitmaster Jerime Ford about his roots, which he can trace back to the great barbecue traditions of the South. Jerime grew up in San Luis Obispo, and he talks about what it was like often being the only Black kid in school and elsewhere, and how he’d love to turn his love of music and his love of food into a jazz club and soul food restaurant in downtown San Luis Obispo. Jerime mentions an attachment to turn a standard charcoal grill into a Santa Maria Style grill. See Gabby’s Grills here for more info. Instagram: @jaefordeats and @jaefordbeats

Jerime Ford, pitmaster, San Luis Obispo

Dylan Jones is the executive director of One Cool Earth, an organization that creates school garden programs in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara County schools. We discuss the organization’s work, kids’ reactions to tasting veggies they grew themselves, and, most immediately, how One Cool Earth continues their mission even in the midst of a pandemic. Website: onecoolearth.org Instagram: @onecoolearth

Dylan Jones, Executive Director, One Cool Earth, Santa Maria

Anita Sahi owns and operates Copia Vineyards & Winery in Paso Robles with her husband, Varinder Sahi. Their focus is Rhône-varietal wines, but Anita wasn’t always on the wine path. She grew up in a suburb of Chicago, the child of Indian immigrants. She wound up working in high-end restaurants in New York, and eventually owned her own place in Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood. With guest host Justin Trabue, Anita talks about how she met Varinder and how they established Copia. Website: copiavineyards.com Instagram: @copiavineyards

Anita Sahi, owner, Copia Vineyards & Winery, Paso Robles

The CONSUMED podcast stokes candid conversations about life and flavor with the people who put food on our plate and drinks in our glass. Join writer Jaime Lewis in seeing life through the lens of how we nourish ourselves.

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CONSUMED with Jaime Lewis

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